Drifting

I'm working on a beautiful wool/silk cardigan* and nearly finished a gorgeous alpaca shawl**, but I find my knitting fantasies drifting towards winter hats and mittens. Is it because the days are getting shorter and cooler? Or because I'm bored of having the same two WIPs for the whole summer? In any case, I spent the last half hour trolling the finished Ganomy Hats on Ravelry. (The pattern for Elizabeth Zimmermann's Ganomy Hat was published in the latest Vogue Knitting.) (Come to think of it, all those hats in the fall VK probably have something to do with my tuque dreams.)

Last week, my crafting urges left the knitting world altogether, and I spent my evenings hand quilting! Remember the Scrap-X quilt? I'd gotten as far as making the quilt sandwich, so I pulled it out and started stitching. It's exciting. I'm pretty in love with it.


Once I stitch around the inside of each white square, I'm not sure how I'll quilt the scrap areas. It's a little tricky because there are so many seams, and so many spots with a double thickness of fabric. Anyway, so far so good.

* Pattern: Featherweight Cardigan / Yarn: Blackberry Ridge Wool/Silk Laceweight

** Pattern: Lightweight Mountain Peaks Shawl / Yarn: Misti Alpaca Laceweight

Next!

OK, two finished things in the last two posts, but what about the unfinished stuff? There's lots. First up, recent progress on my scrap X quilt:


The smallest-size blocks have been finished for ages, but over Xmas I sewed them together into panels of 12 (i.e., 3 Xs). I haven't sewed those panels together to finish the top, but I laid them out on the bed to see how it looks. (Once everything is sewn together with quarter-inch seams, the quilt top will measure 60 x 72 inches.) Since I won't get around to basting the quilt sandwich together for a while, I'll leave the top in panels since they're easier to stow away. I bought solid red cotton for the back. I think I'll use this quilt to practice machine quilting. We'll see. The whole project is being packed away for a while. (To recap, this quilt was inspired by a scrap X quilt at happythings.)

Second, I'm crocheting the Knotty Pillow from the latest issue of Crochet Today. If I'd never crocheted anything before, I would learn how just so I could crochet a wood-grain pillow. I love this project.

Still working away on my Icelandic Top -- also crochet. So far, so good.

As for knitting, I started a front piece of the Tweedy Aran Cardigan, using Patons SWS; the gauge is right, but I think the soy-wool yarn is too soft for the project. I think it should be something else, and I should knit the Tweedy Aran with something like Briggs & Little. The SWS may want to be the Vaila pullover instead -- but with a split collar instead of a turtleneck. We'll see. I need to start spending a lot more time on my schoolwork starting NOW, so there will be less knitting, etc. It might be a while before I finish another sweater.

Oh, I have some thrifted yarn to show you, too, but my camera batteries are charging. Next time, then.

Happy New Year!

Well, 2009 is off to a good start Chez Brainy: after almost exactly one year, I've finally finished my Flock of Triangles quilt!


(The big crease down the centre shows why we're not supposed to keep quilts folded. I haven't washed and dried the finished quilt yet, so I'm sure it will look normal afterwards.) I'm very proud of this. I love Denyse Schmidt's quilts. My previous two baby quilts were kits, with precut squares of fabric; this is the first time I've started with only fat quarters and a quilt pattern.


I sewed the pieces together for the top by machine and then did the quilting by hand. I didn't know what colour to use for the back, and I think I was influenced by Kris when I chose the grey.


The red quilt on the bed beneath my Triangles is yet another rescued vintage quilt, bought a month or so ago. It's lovely, but a bit fragile. So much hand quilting! The fabric is faded and thin, and at first I thought of packing it away for safekeeping, but what's the point of that?



Did you spot the approaching kitty tail in the top photo? About five minutes after photographing my quilt(s) -- which isn't easy to do! -- this was the scene in the bedroom:


Busted!

Almost done (x 2.5)

I often find myself finishing a couple of different projects at the same time. I'm not sure why this happens. This week it's my Grannie Smith Cardigan (button bands have been added, so all that's left to do is seaming and neckband) and my Flock of Triangles quilt (done but for the binding on three sides). Exciting! I'm very pleased with -- and proud of -- both of these projects. Both have taken a fair bit of time and skill.


Those are the two almost-done projects; the almost-half-done project is one I only started this week: the Druid/Green Autumn Mittens from the fall VK. I'm using the 100-gram ball of B.C. alpaca I bought in Vancouver in June. These are fun to knit, and they're going quickly.


The softness and hairiness of the alpaca prevent nice, crisp cables, but I don't mind. These are going to be soft and warm, and they're still pretty.

East Coast goodies

I'm quite happy with the multi-craftual indulgences I made during my holiday -- I even managed to add a whole new craft to my list of things to do! I hope you're not expecting heaps and piles of yarn, because I'm pretty cheap. (Last year at Rhinebeck? I spent $40.) And I'll tell you right now there's no Fleece Artist, because I can find that here. When I travel I like to buy things that I can't get at home. (See how I'm trying to lower your expectations? Is it working?)


I started off being predictable: the first thing I bought was yarn! I bought this skein of 2-ply laceweight Shetland wool at the Loop in downtown Halifax. The yarn is from the Last Resort Farm in Malagash, Nova Scotia, which (gasp!) doesn't have a website. It's only 400 yards, but I'm going to squeeze a Swallowtail Shawl out of it -- maybe without the nupps, to make sure there's enough. I love this natural light grey colour.


I mentioned Chéticamp and rug hooking in my Nova Scotia post, and that I had bought a kit at the craft co-op there. I nearly chose a graphic design of a lighthouse but ended up picking a non-picture design of squares. I just have to figure out something to use as a frame for the burlap. (Any suggestions are welcome!) The burlap has to be taut and parallel to the ground; then you hold the yarn underneath and bring it up in little loops with the hook. When it gets really cold this winter, you'll find me nestled on the couch with this little hook in my hand...


As we drove through the Cape Breton town of Mabou, I saw a small roadside sign with a sheep on it. High alert! Then another sign, with the sheep, that said YARN. Stop the car! We followed a series of these little signs until we arrived at Bellemeade Farm and its little shop. There was a whole wall of rugged worsted-weight wool in lots of colours, but nothing was really calling out to me -- and then I saw the thrummed mitten kits. Perfect! I've always meant to knit a pair of thrummed mitts. The wool I chose for the mittens is an undyed oatmeal colour, and the roving is big blobs of rainbow colours (red, green, purple, yellow, orange, blue, and pink). I'm excited to knit these.


Finally, I bought two fat quarters of Anne of Green Gables fabric just before leaving P.E.I. They're awfully precious, I know, but cut up into squares and worked into a quilt someday, they'll be nice little souvenirs of the trip. (But can you believe that one says "Anne Shirly"? What the heck? And I always thought Diana had dark hair, but am I just thinking of the movie? Was she blonde in the book?)

So that's it! All things I can't get here, and all things that will remind me of a great holiday. Anyway, I needed to save just a little money for Rhinebeck. Yes, you heard me. I said Rhinebeck. Will I see you there?

I made a shirt. It's OK.

I sewed this shirt yesterday, from the basic Sew U shirt pattern. Even though I sewed the size (large) that best matched my measurements, I think it's a little too big. I think the size might work in a drapier fabric, but with this 100% cotton I'd like it a little more fitted. I know I could alter it, and maybe I will. I do like the fabric (just some basic cotton from Fabricville):


I did the buttonholes today, and I'm quite pleased with them, except they're a little too big -- easy to fix with some bigger buttons. Anyway, there you go. It's a shirt. It's fine. I like sewing quilts better.

[And with that, I promptly got up, got my camera and my quilt-in-progress, and came back outside to take some photos. Then I went into the kitchen and made Bill and I each a vodka-tonic, and now I'm back out on the porch. It's a lovely summer evening. But I digress...]


A bit of the front, and a bit of the back. I'm quite pleased with my hand-stitching. I'm using a leather thimble this time, which I'm finding works well. (With the previous baby quilt that I quilted by hand, I used a metal thimble.) I'm not sure what to do with the binding. I'd originally thought I'd use a solid yellow, but then I thought maybe red would work. I have both. I guess I'll see what strikes me when I get to that point.

Did you notice I got my hair cut? I'm growing out my bangs, which means I'll probably wear them pinned up all summer, but at least the rest can look good. It's kind of hard to take a picture of the back of your own head, but I did my best:


Oh, the skirt in the photo up top? I got in in Vancouver at Smoking Lily; the woman in the store said the print was copied from a vintage plate.

Well! That post was a little bit of everywhere, wasn't it?

Quilted inspiration

1. in its new home!, 2. Celebration, 3. Orange and Brown quilt, 4. Doll Quilt Swap I: received, 5. Safety for Birds, 6. Vintage Quilt, 7. Finished Quilt, 8. Paletas Quilt - Finished!, 9. bento box quilt, 10. hourglass quilt, 11. finished quilt, 12. double wedding ring quilt, 13. aqua red babyquilt , 14. Zig-zag quilt., 15. Numbers quilt, 16. it's done!!!

I'm working on my Flock of Triangles quilt again! I'd gotten stalled after finishing the quilt top in May, because the quilt top was wider than the fabric I'd bought for the quilt back. But earlier this week -- on Canada Day, actually -- I took up the project again. I patched three pieces together to make the right size of a backing, and I made the quilt sandwich and basted it together with safety pins. Since then I've been hand-quilting just inside the edges of each white triangle. It's so much fun. I'm about a third of the way through the triangles -- just starting in the middle and sewing out from there -- and then I'll probably also do the vertical lines as shown in the book.* I want to finish the whole thing by the end of July, because Bill's sister is coming to visit, and not only is she a quilter extraordinaire,** but she's the one who sent those yellow fat quarters to me that were the basis of this quilt.

I know that ideally one is supposed to use some kind of frame or hoop while hand-quilting, in order to keep the layers together and taut, but does everybody do that? If you think it's really important to do that, please stop reading. Here's how I do it: I sit on the couch with the pinned-together quilt sandwich heaped on my lap. It seems to work just fine.

* OMG, while looking for the link to the Denyse Schmidt book, I found this Single Girl Quilt pattern. Love it.

** Note to self: Photograph and blog about the amazing quilt Debbie made Bill and me several years ago.

A find

I have long maintained that thrifting in B.C. -- and particularly in small-town B.C. -- can't be beat. When I was in Vancouver last week I spotted a vintage quilt in the window of a shop on Commercial Drive; they wanted about $100, and it wasn't something I couldn't live without, so I left it there. Then, last Sunday, I went to a flea market just off Highway 97 in Summerland, and lo and behold, there was the quilt I couldn't live without. For $20. Yes, please.


I brought it back to my mom and dad's, washed it, and hung it out on their clothesline. I'm no quilt expert, but I'm thinking it is probably from the 1930s or 1940s. (Any confirmation or other guesses are more than welcome.) A scrap quilt, with bits of solids and prints, and even eyelet lace strips. Hand-quilted, of course. I didn't measure it, but I think it would fit a single bed. Can anyone tell me the name of this fan-style quilt block pattern?


It needs a little TLC; you can see the frayed edges, and there are already a couple of patches on it. My favourite part is that pink fabric around the edge. I'll have to figure out if I should patch it or just try to sew up the holes.

I was happy to find a quilt shop in Penticton earlier this week, where I bought four nice fat quarters for ... something.


And now I'm off to do some more thrifting this afternoon! Oh, and I may have already cast on for a February Lady Sweater, like the rest of the knitting universe. More on that in the next post, where I'll show you my west-coast yarn purchases.

Speaking of the west coast, how about those severed feet?

Mah kwilt

Lookee what I finished this afternoon!


Sewing the triangles together into rows was reasonably straightforward, but sewing the rows together got a little tricky; I did quarter-inch seams for all the triangles, but the triangle points got cut off when I sewed the first two rows together with a quarter-inch seam, so I had to use only an eighth of an inch. (Scary! Please don't come apart!) I still lost a few pointy points, but you can't really tell unless you're looking -- which I know you are, so here's a closer shot:


I would never have thought to use yellows, but Bill's sister (who is an amazing quilter) sent me some fat quarters for Christmas, including the dogs and the sailors. So I found the other yellows in various places, and I'm very pleased. This will be such a cheery little quilt! The yellows are very warm. This is quite a bit bigger than my previous two quilts, but still just crib sized; this top measures about 46 inches by 54 inches. I'm not really looking forward to putting the layers together, because I don't really enjoy crawling around on the floor, but I'll do that next and then start hand-quilting.

Mooky says

What's going on with this whole "less blogging" thing? I don't like it one bit. For one thing, it means fewer pictures of me, and that's not good for anybody. Readers love the Mook. It's a fact and it can't be helped.

Also, your blog content is backing up! You need to show the finished baby quilt, you need to give an update on your WIPs, and you should at least mention the plethora of crocheted hats in How She Move.

How do you work this thing? I found some photos, and if you're not going to post them, then I will. Hmm... let's see... I don't have thumbs, but how hard can it be... OK! Got it. Here's the baby quilt that Alison finished earlier this month, from a kit generously provided by Kelly McCaleb (often available from her Etsy shop):





Hope you can see the cute mix of fabrics -- if I remember correctly, it was a little windy on photo day and the quilt kept blowing and making blurry pictures. Finished size is just over 40 inches square; everything (piecing, quilting) was done on the machine, except for finishing the binding by hand.

And look, here's a picture of the current knits in progress -- the Swallowtail Shawl, in sage Zephyr Wool-Silk, and a Gilmore Vest, in thrifted Georges Picaud Lambs Wool (Alison went on and on about her tubular cast-on with that one):


OK, I think we're all caught up. That was certainly more interesting than all this reading, which is so quiet, and boring to watch (no dangling ends of yarn), and doesn't involve taking pictures of me, so whatever to that. Reading, schmeading, that's what I'd say if I could talk.

Over and out.
Mooky (a.k.a. Mookus Bookus, Mookopolis, Mookros Bookros-Ghali)

Some bunny loves you

Pattern: Bunny by Jess Hutchison
Yarn: Georga 100% Wool (left over from Bill's Manly Mitts)
Needles: four 4.0mm DPNs
Notions: eyes are buttons, nose/mouth is embroidery floss
Finished size: 9.5 inches from toe to tip of ear
Modification: I knit the body, arms, and legs first, and stuffed them; instead of knitting the head as a separate piece, I picked up 18 sts. around the neck and knit up, starting with round 5 of the head. (That will only make sense if you did/do knit this.)


During this morning's back porch photo shoot, Bill said, "When did you knit that?" and then, "What's it for?" Well, I knit this bunny on a recent evening that involved three episodes of The Wire (season 3), I put it all together on another TV evening, and it's not for anything other than my own amusement. And now yours. And that's enough of a reason to knit a bunny, I think.

I washed all the fabric for my Flock of Triangles quilt. Thanks again for your advice -- I was very interested to find out that the vintage-y look results from the shrinking of the batting rather than of the fabric! This is something I'd been wondering about. Unfortunately, I left the fabric in the dryer too long, but spritzing it with water as I ironed helped to smooth it out. Before I start cutting out the triangles, I'm considering sizing it up to a single-bed-sized quilt, just because I have enough yellows to make it bigger. I guess I'll do the math and think about it. In the meantime, I'm hugely inspired by all the finished Flock quilts I've found on the blogs and Flickr, like marirob's in pinks and brown, Lady Harvatine's in reds, amishas' in oranges, and weebum's in greens.

I did finish the blue baby quilt earlier this month, so I'll show you photos of that soon. I'm about halfway through knitting a Swallowtail Shawl. I'm reading, too. It turns out that if I blog less, I have time to read and knit! So that will continue to be the strategy for the time being. Enjoy the rest of January, and I'll see you soon.

Quilting question

I've assembled most of the fat quarters I need for a Flock of Triangles quilt, and I'm wondering if I should put them through the washer and dryer before going ahead. Any comments will be much appreciated.

OK, I'm not really here! I'm reading! Look, I'm opening a book right now! Bye!

Update, Jan. 26: Thanks for your votes and comments. Here are the poll results, in which prewashing is the clear winner:

Lady quilts the blues

After getting some much-needed advice from Carolyn, I got a walking foot for my machine, and in no time I'd quilted this bad boy. Now comes my favourite part: attaching the binding by hand. (I find that dollar-store bobby pins do an excellent job of keeping a quilt's binding in place for hand sewing.)

Stuff

1. I've been back in Montreal for a few days -- woke up to snow this morning! Yikes!

2. I'm very glad I broke down and paid the $42 (!!) to see Me, Mom & Morgentaler play on Sunday night -- it was really fun. (Anyone else out there know/remember this band? I don't know if they ever played outside Quebec.)

3. I really, really love Cosmicpluto Laura's new Rayne Wrap Cardigan.

4. I'm still working away on my scrap-X quilt, having bought more fabric scraps from Robyn at lilybug. Planning to make it queen-sized. Why not?

5. The November holiday-themed market at Poppytalk Handmade is making me all wanty (so click at your own risk).

6. Kate asked for a picture of Mooky, so here he is, loving his crocheted blankie.


7. I need more coffee now. Bye!

Knitting, crochet, and sewing

1. Knitting


My hot water bottle is now cozy. I finished the BAWK (with whoreshoe cable) yesterday, but our landlord turned on the furnace in the afternoon, so I didn't actually need this in bed last night. It's adorable, though, isn't it? Maybe I'll use it tonight even if I'm not cold.

2. Crochet



I found (via Ravelry, of course) this great free pattern: Bark Sedge Stitch Washcloth on the Lion Brand site. (Confession: I just realized that "Bark" is the colour of Lion Brand cotton used in the pattern, and this is just a "sedge stitch" cloth. For the last couple of weeks, I've thought I was making a green Bark Sedge Stitch dishcloth, and a blue Bark Sedge Stitch dishcloth, and ... duh.) I sent two of these to my mom, and she reports that she loves them. So I will make more. I don't enjoy knitting with cotton, but crocheting with it is fun.

3. Sewing



Remember the wonderful Scrap X Quilt at happythings? (She's even made another one since then!) I've been working on one of my own for the last week or so -- arranging strips of scraps and sewing them into blocks. It's so fun. Lots of this fabric came from the lilybug scrap pack I bought last weekend; some is stuff I had in my closet, including leftover bits from my first quilt; and I admit that I bought some brand-new stuff for my "scrap" quilt. (How else was I going to incorporate leopard print? It simply had to be done.) So even though I really should be knitting my Woodland Shawl so I can have it finished and blocked in time for Rhinebeck, I'm obsessed with assembling these quilt blocks. Obsessed!

Thank you for your birthday wishes yesterday. I had a nice day -- largely because it involved going out for eggs benedict. And because the furnace came on.

Happy Birthday, Mom (and more!)

My mother will tell you she's not crafty, but I have evidence that she taught me to sew. This was at Christmas (I know because there's an advent calendar on the window -- maybe 1980?), and I got my own little sewing machine (my mom has a big one, on which she later taught me to sew for real). I distinctly remember this photograph being taken, actually; my brother took it, but insisted that he pose his favourite bunny on my sewing machine. And look at the vest I'm wearing! Now there's a chunky knit -- most likely made by my Aunt Nance. So there you go, Mom. Happy birthday!

The Puces Pop fair was awesome yesterday. (Are you in or near Montreal? Go today! Get a free lip balm from Etsy!) I bought a lovely tote bag, from Worn Journal, and a very exciting $10 fabric-scrap pack from lilybug.



Of course I would have liked to buy more stuff, but really, being surrounded by such creativity also makes me want to make more stuff -- and that's really more satisfying, isn't it? So today I'm sewing the top of my blue baby quilt, from the kit that Kelly McCaleb sent me. I'm in love with the fabrics she chose.


Are you doing creative things this weekend? I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving (you Canadians, that is). I give thanks for you.

A quilt, a cat

"Hmmm, what's this?"


"I want to look at the back. Ooh, pink stripes!"


"Soft to sit on, and I do like this polka-dot binding..."


"I is in yr quilt, makin u say Awwww..."


All done and laundered! I'm pleased as punch with this little starter quilt. (Keep in mind that Mooky is a mammoth cat -- the quilt measures 35 inches square.) Now, photographing a pink-and-red quilt against grass is not the best way to capture accurate colours, but there's nowhere inside for me to spread it out for pictures. I've Photoshopped, but the colours still look a little washed out.

Let's review: I sewed the blocks together on the machine and then did all the quilting by hand. If you're interested, click on the little photo to see (roughly) where I quilted. The three rows around the outside are a little excessive design-wise, but I just wanted more practice. And to conclude: I love quilting! My favourite part was attaching the binding. I think I'll make another small one -- I'm still enamoured with the Scrap X Quilt. Ultimately I want to make a quilt for my bed, but I don't quite feel ready for that.

Mooky thanks you in advance for any comment-love you wish you give. Over and out.